Full Notification

Pocatello Police warn residents of aggressive door to door sales people.

On 5-21-12, Officers dealt with multiple complaints/incidents involving aggressive door to door salespersons selling cleaning products. Three subjects selling cleaning products were located and identified. One of them, Daniel Mitchem, was cited for two counts of Trespassing for refusing to leave private property after being asked to do so.

Listed below is a media release the Pocatello Police shared with citizens back on March 27th of this year. We feel after yesterdays incidents it is important to remind residents of safety precautions they can take with door to door sales people.

With warmer weather and the summer months on the horizon, we see an increase in door to door solicitation. The Pocatello Police Department would like to provide the citizens of Pocatello with some common sense safety tips when dealing with solicitors that come to your door. Presently, an individual or company wanting to solicit sales door to door in Pocatello must register with our licensing department. The individual or company pays a $25 fee and can register as many salespeople as they want. There is no individual licensing or background checks completed on each salesperson. We encourage our citizens to use common sense and good judgment when answering their door.
• If you do not know the person knocking at your door, you do not have to open it. If you have a screen door or storm door, consider using the lock to keep aggressive solicitors from opening the door and “getting a foot in the door” whereby you feel obligated to purchase so they will leave.
• If you are unsure if a solicitor is legitimate, ask for
identification verifying that they are employed by the
company they claim to work for. If they don’t have any I.D.,
don’t give them any money and tell them to leave.
• If solicitor refuses to leave after being asked to, or becomes
irate, shut the door. If they still don’t leave, call 911. If possible, take your cell phone or cordless phone to the door with you so you do not leave the person unattended at your door when you need to call the police.
• If you don’t feel comfortable giving the solicitor any money
DON’T! Do not let anyone “guilt” you into giving them money
or buying their product.
• If you’ve already purchased something from a solicitor, and
have paid by check and no longer feel comfortable with the
transaction, cancel the check as soon as possible.
• Do not believe stories such as “I live in your neighborhood”, or
“My car is broken down just around the corner”, etc. If you
don’t recognize this person as one of your neighbors, they’re
probably not. If their car is truly broken down, offer to call
them a tow truck or the police for assistance.
• At no time should you let any of these people in your house!
Not even to use the phone.
• Do not hire anyone who comes to your door offering to clean
your house, do home improvements, etc. and definitely do not
give them any money before they do any work!